Deployed and fixed
to a suitable multi-year ice floe, the Ice-Tethered Profiler (ITP) can sustain
near-real time measurements of upper ocean temperature and salinity for up to three
years.Incorporating a specifically designed
winch system and deployment apparatus that is both light weight and easily
assembled or disassembled on a ship or at a deployment site, the ITP can be
deployed in less than four hours by either transporting the gear and field
personnel to the deployment site via aircraft, or by lowering the gear over the
side of a ship and hauling on the ice. Using daily satellite imagery (if
available), visual reconnaissance flights, and ice surveying, the choice of an
appropriate ice floe is a necessity to select a site that will sustain the
system for a prolonged period of time (depending upon the instrument sampling
rate).If available, the helicopter is
the preferable method for surveying different sites and for deployment
operations. Working from a ship typically limits the distance and selection of
ice floes.Pre-deployment procedures
include powering and configuring the ITP instruments and preparing the
apparatus for transport to the deployment site.Specific deployment methods include the assembly and disassembly of the
ITP winch, proper placement of the total ITP deployment apparatus, ‘Yale Grip’
braiding and slipping techniques, and testing the Iridium and Inductive
communication links.The operations
described here provide a safe and efficient manner to easily deploy the WHOI
ITP.